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This note explores the current state of venture philanthropy in the U.S. and its future. Based on interviews with 28 practitioners in the field of philanthropy and a review of the literature since the publication of the article introducing the concept of venture philanthropy (Virtuous Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists) sixteen years ago, the note discusses the signifiant impact venture philanthropy has had on the nonprofit sector despite its small size relative to total philanthropic giving. Venture philanthropists make large, multi-year, unrestricted grants coupled with significant non-financial capacity building support and rigorous performance measurement with the goal of increasing a nonprofit's ability to serve more people more effectively. This note discusses the full set of venture philanthropy practices and their impact on grantees. It also explores what could be done to increase this type of results-driven philanthropy in the U.S. and poses questions regarding the future trajectory of the field, including venture philanthropy's role in driving societal-level scaling of impact. This note is aimed at both the philanthropic sector overall as well as venture philanthropy practitioners.

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The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, focused on building the organizational capabilities of nonprofits that served the disadvantaged youth in the United States, has recently been named an intermediary in the federal government's new social innovation fund (SIF), which is intended to bring together public-private funds to help expand effective solutions across three issue areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. SIF intermediaries would be responsible for directing resources to innovative community-based nonprofit organizations that were seeing results. Edna McConnell Clark Foundation had long been a promoter of evidence-based accountability and grantmaking and saw the absence of an efficient capital market in the nonprofit sector as a major impediment to funding growth, increasing scale, and building the sustainability of successful nonprofit organizations. With its Growth Capital Aggregation Pilot (GCAP), Edna McConnell Clark Foundation had seen positive results in taking a "syndicate" approach to funding a select group of nonprofits. With it being named an SIF intermediary, Edna McConnell Clark was ready to build on its GCAP experience and continue to evolve a model that would provide, at increased efficiency, growth capital for successful organizations. The foundation hoped to build a capital aggregation approach that would serve as a model for philanthropy.

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This is a PELP case study. The case services as a follow-up to Meeting New Challenges at the Aldine Independent School District (A) case. Superintendent Nadine Kujawa retired in May 2007 and Wanda Bamberg, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was chosen by the school board to succeed Kujawa. In the midst of the economic crisis, Bamberg retained Aldine's vision and basic strategy. The system remained organized in five vertical feeder systems and continued to promote district veterans principal and area superintendent positions. Students performed well on the state assessment, but new challenges emerged. A more rigorous state test, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), was about to be implemented and the district grappled with flat-lining college readiness scores. Bamberg had a decision to make; she could keep the district doing what had worked so well in the past or strike out in an entirely new direction.

learning objective:

Highlights the school district's managerial challenges posed by higher state standards and stagnating performance on college-readiness indiactors.

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To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.

Hugo Moreno, CEO of Salud Digna, was considering his growth options for the next three years. Would becoming a for-profit with access to greater capital be the best strategy or would this cause the organization to lose its social mission? Salud Digna provided diagnostic medical tests to the poor, had experienced rapid growth and was financially self-sufficient. Moreno was determined that the organization be as well managed as any company in Mexico

learning objective:

The challenges of scaling an effective nonprofit organization. Used for MBA and Executive Education.

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As a key means for improving student performance, over the past three years, the central office of Baltimore City Public Schools has steadily shifted responsibility for resource management to schools. Since 2007, when Andres Alonso became CEO, principals have gone from controlling 3% of their budgets to controlling roughly 80%. This case discusses how pushing resource management to the schools fits into a broader strategy that links a principal's autonomy to improved academic results. It delves into the rationale for the change, challenges and benefits of this strategy, and the system of supports and structures that have been developed in response to the implementation challenges.

learning objective:

1. Evaluate the benefits and challenges of granting autonomy to schools as a prerequisite for performance, rather than granting it only to high-performing schools. 2. Analyze the ongoing organizational learning and change required at all levels when implementing a reform strategy. 3. Identify and analyze the challenges of decentralizing key decisions while still holding schools accountable for results. 4. Explore the shifts in culture required at the district and school levels to implement the strategy.

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Dedicated to accelerating the development of a safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccine, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) pioneered ways of addressing the inadequate incentive structures that prevented progress toward vaccines for AIDS and other diseases predominantly affecting poor populations in tropical countries. As an intermediary nonprofit organization, IAVI brought together partners with different perspectives and motivations from nonprofit, industry, government and scientific research sectors toward developing vaccines. IAVI played several roles: honest broker, integrator and communicator of knowledge regarding AIDS vaccine research, passionate advocate for AIDS vaccines at national and international levels, and coordinator and manager of research and development initiatives. In 2008, IAVI invested further in its own laboratories and research infrastructure, moving a step upstream in vaccine development partnerships and clinical research. How should IAVI manage tensions between what is necessary to achieve its mission and what is necessary to build new incentive structures that enable key actors to work together effectively?

learning objective:

To explore the role of an intermediary organization and challenges involved in bringing together diverse actors in ways that drive results.

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After United Way CEO Brian Gallagher began shifting the organization's focus from old-school fundraising to community impact, Gallagher and local leaders like Elise Bulk, CEO of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, faced a series of challenges regarding how to best use United Way's resources to address the root causes of social problems.

learning objective:

Explore the issues of using philanthropic dollars to achieve positive change in communities.

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Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE) was a business-public education partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that promoted cross-sector knowledge sharing and academic excellence. Its suite of core student programs, such as 720, where business leaders addressed nearly half of the ninth grade class about the importance of achievement in high school, and the Young Professionals Conference, an event for juniors that highlighted exciting business practices, allowed businesses to connect with students at the individual level. At the same time, the creation of platforms for business-education learning brought system-level improvements. In particular, MCBRE's board of advisor's meetings brought together top executives from companies such as Lockheed Martin, NASDAQ, and PricewaterhouseCoopers with MCPS leaders to learn about management and leadership practices. After leading MCBRE for the past five years, first as executive director, and now as board chair, Jane Kubasik was leaving. While the newly hired executive director, Heather Schwager, was more than qualified to take over, there were some concerns. Kubasik had planned and implemented most of MCBRE's current initiatives, and single-handedly recruited nearly all of MCBRE's current members. Would MCBRE be able to retain its impressive membership without Kubasik? With its selective invite-only criteria for new members, would MCBRE be able to continue to grow? Should growth even be a goal?

learning objective:

To analyze the effectiveness of a public education-business partnership in a large urban school district.

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